Chapter 8: Fear Has a Name
The sect bells rang at dawn, but their chimes no longer brought peace.
A strange tension clung to the Vermillion Cloud Sect like a fever that refused to break.
Lian Fei hadn't left her quarters since the incident. Her disciples whispered behind closed doors. Elders gave her worried glances. The once-proud genius now looked haunted—eyes sunken, voice hollow, presence faded.
They said it was "stress."
They said it was "a bottleneck."
But she knew better.
Raizen was back.
---
Inner Courtyard – Disciplinary Hall
"Two outer disciples vanished during patrol last night," Elder Yao reported grimly. "No blood, no spiritual traces. Just... gone."
Elder Mo rubbed his temple, eyes shadowed by insomnia. "He's testing us. Spreading fear like a disease."
Yao frowned. "He was crippled. How could he cultivate Abyssal Qi without a dantian?"
Mo's voice dropped. "Because the Abyss doesn't care about dantians. It feeds on something deeper... the soul."
Yao stiffened. "Then we're already too late."
"No." Mo's eyes sharpened. "We'll smoke him out. Before he fully reforms."
But even as he said it, the flames of doubt flickered behind his gaze.
---
Deep in the Ravine Temple
Raizen stood before a cracked mirror—a remnant of his old reflection. What stared back was not him.
It was more.
Flesh woven with mist, eyes glowing like twin abysses, skin etched with faint sigils that pulsed like veins. His presence now bent reality subtly. Insects fled. Air grew thick. Even light refused to linger.
> Abyss System Log:
Current Corruption Map – Sect Fear Level: 14%
Notable Progress:
– Lian Fei: 28%
– Elder Mo: 6%
– Elder Yao: 2%
– Outer Disciples (4): Lost – Absorbed
Raizen reached into the void and pulled out a spectral flame.
> System Skill: Phantom Mark – Tier I
Implants a mark that tracks targets and leaks dread into their surroundings. Can trigger mass panic when spread.
He grinned. "Let's remind them who I was."
---
Flashback – 4 Years Ago
"I, Raizen, challenge all inner court disciples—at once."
He had stood tall, bare-chested, bleeding from a dozen wounds, his blade broken, his robe torn. But his eyes—those eyes—still blazed with unyielding defiance.
They had mocked him.
They had ganged up on him.
And still, he had fought like a demon reborn.
Until the Sect Master himself descended and said:
> "Enough. Cripple him."
It was not a fight. It was an execution.
They shattered his dantian. Cut his tendons. Buried him in the Ravine as punishment.
But the Abyss whispered.
And he listened.
---
Present – Sect Market Square
A crowd gathered around a disciple—eyes wide, frothing at the mouth, screaming nonsense.
"They're here! The eyes! They SEE ME—!"
He collapsed.
Dozens watched in horror as black mist oozed from his mouth, forming a single word:
> RAIZEN
The crowd scattered.
Fear spread like fire.
> System Alert: Sect-wide Dread Threshold 21% Reached
Passive Skill Unlocked: [Dread Pulse]
Description: Periodically sends waves of fear through the surroundings, lowering enemy morale and disrupting formations.
In the Ravine, Raizen opened his eyes slowly.
"They remember now."
---
Lian Fei's Quarters – Midnight
She stood before her mirror, fingers twitching.
Her reflection no longer matched her movements.
It smirked when she did not.
She turned—nothing there.
She lit another incense stick. The fifteenth one tonight.
> "Fei... your scent hasn't changed."
She spun. His voice again.
"Stop!" she screamed.
Suddenly the room warped. Her mirror cracked. Her shadow moved on its own, rising up into the form of Raizen.
He stepped forward—not physically, but within the dream.
"You don't get to forget," he whispered. "You don't get to live while I rot."
Tears streamed down her cheeks. "What do you want?"
His abyssal eyes burned into hers.
"Everything you love. Everyone you protect. I will unmake you from the inside out."
Then—he was gone.
She collapsed.
> System Update: Lian Fei – Corruption 33%
Subject may now hallucinate while awake.
Mind Leash duration increased. Resistance falling rapidly.
---
Elder Mo's Meditation Chamber
He tried to circulate his Qi, but the flow kept breaking.
Voices in the walls. Flickers in the shadows.
The sect's foundation itself felt disturbed.
> "Mo... do you still believe justice was done?"
He opened his eyes—no one was there.
His heart skipped.
For the first time in decades, Elder Mo feared.
---
Final Scene – Peak of the Sect
Raizen appeare
d in the dreams of a young disciple standing guard. The boy awoke screaming.
Nearby, burned into the stone by abyssal energy, were the words:
> FEAR HAS A NAME.
> AND I HAVE RETURNED.